Mixing Metal Guitars & Building A Tone From SCRATCH
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- Опубліковано 3 чер 2024
- ►► Mix these guitars with me by downloading the clean DI’s and IR!: frightboxrecordingacademy.com...
Here's real-world proof that mixing metal guitars can be DEAD SIMPLE.
It's true, guitar mixing can be one of the easiest (and quickest) elements to nail within a heavy production as long as you pay close attention to what actually matters.
On a near-daily basis, I receive questions from subscribers about:
- The Axe-Fx
- Kemper
- (fill-in-the-blank) latest and greatest amp sim released that week
- stereo wideners
- cabinet selection
- microphone selection
- overpriced IR packs
- m/s processing
- quad tracking
What if I told you that you don't need any of that crap in order to produce KILLER guitar tones in your mixes?
In today's tutorial, I show you how to dial in (and mix) a killer guitar tone from scratch...using nothing more than a free amp sim, impulse response and $60 DAW.
Remember, it's not the tools...
It's how you use them.
►► Amped Roots by ML Sound Lab: ml-sound-lab.com/products/amp...
►► Frightbox MERCH: frightbox-recording.creator-s...
► Website - frightboxrecordingacademy.com/
► Facebook - / frightboxrecording
► Instagram - / frightboxrecording
All music in video mixed and mastered @ www.frightboxrecording.com
I'm learning how to record my solo album, and them I stop in the middle of the project like; "and now, how I am going to mix this?" thanks to you I know now I can do it without losing my mind or kill my ilussions about this project hahaha!, thank you so so sooooo much to take the time to do this videos, so simple, so perfectly explained. One big hug and appreciation from Spain my man.
Keeping it simple is the best. There seems to be an endless amount of new amp sims coming out and it’s so easy to get caught up in the tone chaser mentality. Always feeling like if you can just make it sound a little better and a little better and that starts the endless discontent cycle.
Keeping it simple is absolutely the way to go. Definitely guilty of tone chasing, and usually I end up making things worse.
Part of what I think we forget is the interplay of all the instruments. A powerful guitar tone is built in part through a solid bass tone and equally punchy drums. The guitar alone won’t ever work, regardless of how much you mix
I'm obsessed with that bass tone!
Feels like a slap to the face. That bass
I think the elephant in the room with all the issues people are having is due to not having a properly setup guitar. Guitars are difficult to get right and no plugin is going to fix a DI that has a guitar with dead strings that won't stay in tune and has not been properly intonated.
Word. Strings are HUGE!
F yeah!! the video we all have been waiting for from you!!
Great free amp sim - thanks Bobby for a great tutorial as usual.
Thank you so much Bobby, you have no idea how helpful this video was!
You make it sound so easy and do-able.
I've been having good luck eq'ing the DI before it hits an amp sim. What it does, is tighten up the tone. Adds clarity to the top end without making the amp-sim sound brittle, harsh or overtly fizzy. Then it seems like the drums and bass have some release, room to breathe, while the guitar still sounds up front and not mushy.
I scoop out about 6db around 300hz with a bandwidth of 1. Then boost 7db at 5100hz with a bandwidth of 1. This can differ depending on the pickup you use. I tend to use an EMG 81 or Het Set for rhythm. I just want my guitar to sound plucky, so I remove any midrange mud that makes the sim or re-amp sound foggy.
It's important to have your guitar setup properly, new strings, intonation, PICKUP HEIGHT and all wiring installed cleanly and functioning. But the DI can still benefit from cleaning up the EQ.
Very cool and helpful video!!!
Thank you, Bobby! Useful and consistent, as always!!! Like!
Thanks man your vids help so much 🤘🏼 learning so much from all you put out 🤙🏼
I honestly never comment on videos, but just had to say this was such a breathe of fresh air.
The best approach:)
Love drum sound!
Great and very helpful video. Thanks!
Thank you for your help!
Thanks for the video tutorial, and for the free IR! 🤘 🤘 Great resource
My pleasure!
WOW..., extremely helpful. Great work.
Happy to have been a help!
@@FrightboxRecording 🎸🎸🎸🎸🎸
yeah i pretty much do he same thing with my guitar i use the bogren amp knob with a tube scremer from nembrini and its badass i have amped roots too and amphub
thanks sm for this!
It seems to me (I'm an old guy)... that amp sims do the new metal sound (think Cookie Monster Vocals) very well... but getting classic rock up through say the Hair Band Era... not nearly as easy.
That fizz that seems to be part of the new metal sound, is something us classic guys can't stand, for the most part.
Reams of space were taken on the web 15-20 years ago when Line 6 released the PodXT and it had that kind of fizz in it, that the Pod 1.0 and 2.0 didn't. After messing with it for ages... I never found a way to get that fizz out.
Seemed that if you dropped the gain enough to get rid of the fizz, the life and the sustain were lost... If you low passed it enough to get rid of it... there was no highs at all...
I don't know what the trick is, but the Pod 2.0 "Brit High Gain" model did it right and haven't found another model since, that does. Would love to know what the trick is to good rhythm guitar tone that isn't the new metal fizz-box chugga chugga sound that has been acendant for the the last 20 years or so?
Great tutorials! Thanks for sharing! I ususally get kindo of a hollow low mid wah tone on my gutiar tones, Doesnt seem to matter if I an using a cab sim of micing the cab itself. I use your impulse wich is great, and I also bought few that are pretty good. I use a mesa 4x12 57 etc.. If you have any ideas let me know. Thanks very much
Amazing tone, I tried the same tone with Neural DSPs Gojira!
Almost did it with the Crunch amp and Vintage Cab, but the Amped Roots sounds kinda warmer and fuller.. Amazing how that Plugin is free, I bought the Gojira One just for the whammy! :D
Interessting thing, with Neural DSP, I had to turn the Output to +12, since the free IR you provide is barely hearable..
Your Videos are a great help! Thanks
. . . ahh, that bass tone is sick =)
#FreshStrings
One thing I don't think you touched on: how to do you typically set the guitar's pickups/knobs? Bridge pickup with tone knob turned up all the way?
sounds great! also, thanks for using reaeq as well since it's free and Reaplugs be used in other DAW's besides reaper (i use Studio one). im going to start printing my guitar tracks with this vid in mind bc while tweaking can be fun, man did i waste a lot of time
I used the Amped Roots plugin for a while before I switched to the Stevie T Djentgod plugin. Both are really great sounding.
I agree!
For metal, If you have a paramteric eq that can only let you touch 4 frequencies, what would they be? What would you boost or adjust?
I just want to get an idea as a starting point in my eq.
Great tutorial, thanks man! Where did you get that bass sound?
I have struggle with mixing guitars since day one when I fell in love with mixing. I fell away from it for a while and recently after going into the studio with a friend had the studio send me the tracks so I could play around with them so I am getting back into it. And as usual I can't get my guitar to sound worth a poop. At least in regards to how good it sounded when it came out of those dang speakers and amp. Took years also to get a good sound out of an amp but once I mastered that I can pretty much plug into anything now and get a great tone. But mixing??? lmao man I have a long ways to go but love doing it so will neve grove up. But yeah, as ironic as it is being a heavy guitarist, that's the one thing I never am happy with in my mixes. The dang guitar tones 😭 Just bought your Heavy Mix Fix course as I like your videos and you really seem to know your stuff so hopefully I'll learn a little of something and make some kind of progress lol
Crazy the guitare soloed is verry fizzy but when you listen in the mix it's not a problem anymore.
Love your videos. I had a question nobody seems to answer; I have a Tech 22 Paul Landers Fly Rig and can not find a way to get the DI from it. I have it going from my guitar straight to my 2i2. The tone is perfect, but it makes it extremely difficult to edit without a DI. I’d really like it if you could help me figure this out 🙏. Thank you
Bogren amp knobs is the dhit
Hey, I have a question lets say I record 2 rythms and Pan those hard left and right what do I do with my lead guitar when it's not a solo? Do I double track those aswell or leave up then center? Thanks!
One problem here. Tried to apply few random Neural DSP plugins on the guitar tracks and looks like the base+drums are so good so almost anything just fits it
If i'm using something like Guitar Rig and the tone is already EQ'd a lot in the amp chain, is it necessary for me to go and EQ it more afterwards like you did?
No, just use tour ears... If needed, use EQ, but not always!
It's It's about playing tight / editing .. no matter what gear , what eq or whatever... if the playing isn't tight enough and can't be fixed by editing it will always sound out of line
But what about bass cabinet responses? Anybody got a good recommendation?
Were all three tracks armed during the recording?
No, I record one bass DI and duplicate it later after it's edited.
I followed these steps and my tone is fairly fuzzy, what is the best way to combat that? Also, thank you for the helpful videos, they're very helpful!
Some metal mixes more toward alt metal like Chevelle seem to leave the top end there, but clean the fuzzyness in little spots in the high mids. Last mix I did I had 4 Peak eqs down 2 dB in 2.6k, 3.6 k, 4.2k, 5.2k, and 6.7k. but the 3.6k was the only with wide Q. Also If there is too little cymbal at the high mids you won't have any fuzz masking, wich could be nice to have. But that's just something that worked for me. O even have some narrow q eqs cleaning some wistles in the mids and low mids. And that's a funny thing that I need only when I play the mesa boogie os my daw in certain Power chords.
@@eduardonelali thanks 🙏🏽
That IR is great. A tip for myself in the past: if you have a great IR and it seems that the tone isnt right; maybe the guitars are too loud and not edited.
100% agreed.
I'm addicted to your videos
I took the challenge, you can see my results here - ua-cam.com/video/Jzo0ZOIaSHc/v-deo.html . I used the Audio Assault Crown including one of the bundled IRs, used Audio Assault Reamp studio just for a RAT like pedal going into the Crown, and some EQ using Viator DSP Multi-Q (free). When I got the Crown and Reamp Studio on sale, they cost me US $10 and I think $20. Not a lot of money for what I think is great tone and about half an hour of playing around.
Frightbox, What IR Loader Would You Recommend.. TY.. Rob..
I actually never use IR loaders outside of the ones that come built in to the amp sims. In this vid, I'm using the IR loader that's in the Amped Roots Free. Hope that helps!
@@FrightboxRecording Thx Man, didn't really know it had a Loader because It was hard to find AR IR Loader, A Few Clicks and Wala.. There it is....Thx For Simplified Things in your Mix.. For me at times I try to over do it.. 30/45 Min Vs Yours in Less Than 15 Min.. Defiantly Will Use Your Approach.. On another Note.. I Have an Interest in some of your Paid Courses.. Will be Checking Them Out.. Thx Again
I can’t find how to load IR in Roots?
My guitars always sounds great until I introduce vocals... and then when I mix it down the high end of the guitar seems covered/masked compared to "pro" mixes. A conundrum I have yet to conquer.
If the rhythms are panned hard right hard left... what about the leads?
Usually up the center for guitar solos.
@@FrightboxRecording thanks man 🙏
I'd say there's a lot of sizzle on the top around 1-3K. So for me it's not a solid tone.
Agreed
I bought the Neural DSP Soldano and I like this Roots one better .. Unfortunately it doesn't play nice with the M1 Mac. This is helpful stuff though.. You sound like Glenn from SpectreSound .... "Stop piddling around with your amp sims and just PLAY!" 😂
What do "IR packs" and "impulse response" mean???
This sums it up nicely, from UltimateGearfinder: "An Impulse Response (IR for short) is a way you can ‘capture’ the qualities of a guitar amp speaker, microphone, and room and recreate it almost perfectly in the studio or for live performances. Impulse Responses allow you to ‘capture’ everything set up after the guitar amp head. The type of speaker you use, the type of mic(s), placement of the mic(s), and type of room can all be captured with Impulse Responses."
You can purchase ready-made IR Packs made by music companies, or find free ones on the internet, like the one in this video.
@@TheMack Thanks for trying to explain it, but somehow i still dont get it :/ I tried to Google it but ... there's just something i'm missing. I mean, i have a guitar amp, a cable, distortion and guitar, ... where in that signal path i capture the Impulse Response and how? And when i do, where do i put it? Maybe i'm too vintage for this shit :D
@@LindonBindon No worries man. Basically, you load the impulse responses into your DAW, such as Logic Pro or Reaper. Use an IR loader, such as Lancaster Pulse or Ignite Amps NAD IR. The IR Loader is usually placed after the amp sim. However, if you want to *capture* your own IR's, that's an entirely different thing, that's what the pro's do and sell on the internet! :)
@@LindonBindon I't's very easy to get lost in the hunt of the perfect cab sim IR, there are thousands of them out there. So if you're new to this I would recommend to stick with an "integrated" amp sim that has the cab sim built into the plugin. That way you get a reasonable package with amp + cabs and mics. A free good example that he shows in this video is the ML Sound Labs Amped Roots amp sim. With that you can experiemnt witha couple of integrated cab IR's, move the microphones etc. I can also recommend the free Neurontube Debut by Audio Singularity if you like the Soldano type sound. Then if you want to lay down some cash, here are some names: Audio Assault, Neural DSP, Bogren Digital, Scuffham S-Gear, OTTO Audio and a bit of a newcomer in the "metal amp" scene: ModernMetalSongWriter with their "Clairvoyant Amp Suite", this one I like a lot!
Did you EQ both guitars exactly the same?
Yes but you can change the high end on each one a bit different, with minimal boost to give more stereo feel
Your metal isn’t going to be playing over the mono speaker system at the gap, so don’t worry about a little mono collapse. 😂
in all honesty, that tone is farrrr too fizzy for me
Proper intonation, action, clean fretboard, new strings, and make sure you change the battery in the back of your guitar if you have active pickups.
These are must haves when recording guitar tracks. These are essential for a good sounding guitar tone.
It might be my lacking experience, but to me, this tone has way too much gain, too much low end, and not enough mids.
Cool but the guitars sound a little weird
You sound a little weird
Do you mean some fuzz-like sound?
@@f.artemenkov no it sounds like a phasing issue but I also was on my phone as opposed to listening through my monitors so that could be it as well.
@@cecropiamatt8522 B%*× Me
@@SilentScreamsStudios ML S lab Is horrible Stl Tone hub all day!